Valve operating mechanism



Feb. 14, 1961 B. J. MlLLEVlLLE 2,971,400

VALVE OPERATING MECHANISM Original Filed April 9, 1957 l l 2\\\' Q 7 $60 w (\I O N I 8 i a is g o a (O I 8 8 m l 1 (Q I l (all IQ" ii w 'E 1 IIf) m o o INVENTOR g E? 8 Bertram J MiHeville ATTORNEY? United StatesPatent VALVE OPERATING MECHANISM Bertram J. Milleville, Wadsworth, Ohio,assignor to Ed-- ward Valves, Inc., East Chicago, Ind., a corporation ofDelaware Original application Apr. 9, 1957, Ser. No. 651,732, now PatentNo. 2,942,495, dated June 28, 1960. Divided and this application May 26,1960, Ser. No. 31,926

4 Claims. (Cl. 74-625) This invention relates to valve constructions andmore particularly to apparatus for moving the closure elements of valvesused in high pressure, high temperature service between open and closedpositions. 7

For present purposes the invention will be disclosed as applied to avalve of the type shown in United States Patent No. 2,665,874. Valves ofthis type are used to control the flow of fluids at pressures up to 3000p.s.i. and higher and are provided in a range of sizes, the larger sizeshaving a closure element fourteen inches or more in diameter and a stemfour inches or more in diameter. The travel of the valve closure elementbetween open and closed positions maybe 14 inches or more. Valves ofthis type are usually opened and closed by rotation of a threaded stembushing operated by a handwheel. While the valve closure elements may bemoved toward and away from a position close to the final seated positionwith a substantially constant relatively high torque, a substantiallyhigher torque is required to move the valve toward or away from itsfully closed finally seated position.

Generally the torque required to move the valve closure elementsthroughout the major portion of its travel can be developed by one ortwo men. However, the manual opening and closing of the valve is atimeconsuming process and in the case of larger valves could require anhour or more of the time of two or three men. Generally in order toprovide the extreme torque required for final closing or initial openingof the valve an impact imparting handwheel assembly is used as shown inthe aforementioned patent.

In view of the time-consuming and laborious nature of the work involvedin opening and closing such valves, many expedients such as gear drivesor electric, hydraulic or pneumatic motors have been proposed'tofacilitate the performance of this operation. However, none of theseexpedients has proved entirely satisfactory. In the case of gear drivesand other mechanical expedients employed to increase the mechanicaladvantage of the system, the time required to move the valve betweenopen and closed positions is usually increased to an unreasonable value.While various motor operators have proved to be satisfactory in service,nevertheless they require expensive maintenance and may increase thecostminimize the expense of such an installation the motor is capable ofdeveloping only that torque which is re-. quired to move the valve to aposition close to its final seating position or to move the valve inopening direction after the valve is unseated. The final seatingmovements of the closure as well as the initial unseating movements areeffected through a joint operation of the motor drive and the impactdeveloping handwheel. This system represents a substantial improvementover preceding systems and has met with favorable acceptance in thefield. However, the cost of such an installation may add as much as$2000.00 to the cost of the valve. This cost is warranted in many caseswhere the valves are frequently operated. However, in many installationsthe setting of the valve remains unchanged for weeks or months at atime. In such cases the time-consuming and laborious manual operation ofthe valve, despite its many disadvantages, is preferable to theinstallation of the relatively expensive permanent motor dirve assembly.

It is accordingly the principal purpose and object of the presentinvention to provide improved simplified and relatively inexpensivevalve operating mechanisms including a geared motor driven assembly.

This primary object is achieved by the provision in the preferred formof the invention of a valve operator assembly comprising a crossarmconnected to the threaded stem operator, an impact developing handwheeladapted to impart heavy blows to said crossarm assembly to effect thefinal seating or initial unseating of the valve and a novel gear trainconnected to the crossarm or to the handwheel, the gear trainterminating in a shaft adapted to receive the output shaft of a portabledrive motor. Preferably the portable drive motor is from to the sizerequired for motors as conventionally used and does not developsufiicient torque to finally seat the valve or to initially unseat it.Both the final seating of the valve and the initial unseating areedected through use of the impact developing handwheel.

Accordingly, it is a further important object of the present inventionto provide novel valve operating mechanisms which provide for easy andrapid operation of the valves at a fraction of the cost of priorcomparable systems.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide novel valveoperator assemblies which may be incorporated in valves of standardconstruction such as those shown in the aforementioned Patent 2,665,874with little or no modification and which thus may be readily installedon valves now in service in the field as well as new valves.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide improved valveoperator assemblies which comprise a minimum number of structurallyrugged, relatively inex pensive parts and which may be expected toprovide a relatively long maintenance-free service life.

Additional objects and advantages will become apparent as thedescription proceeds in connection with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

Figure l is an elevation partly in section of a valve in-' corporatingthe operator assembly of the present invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section of the valve of Figure 1;and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary section of the apparatus taken along line 33of Figure 2.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the

valve shown is generally of the type disclosed in the aforementionedUnited States Patent 2,665,874 and is of the angle non-return type.However, it is to be understood that the invention may also be appliedto valves of other types including stop valves, gate valves, and otherforms of globe valves.

The valve assembly shown in Figure 1 comprises generally a body 20having inlet and outlet passages 22 and 24, respectively, and a tubularextension 26 in which,

a bonnet 28 is received. The valve closure member 30 is slidablyreceived in the tubular extension 26 and cooperates with a seat '32 tocontrol the passage of moun'ted within the periphery of-the handwheel.

fluids through the valve. The closure member 30 may be moved toward theseat by gravity or by fluid flowing through the valve or may bepositively moved toward closed position by a stem 34 threaded at itsupper end into a yoke bushing 36 rotatably mounted by suitable thrustbearing assemblies 38 and 40 supported in a conventionalmanner on theyoke 42. Rotation of the bushing 36 in the bearing assemblies 38 and 4%produces axial movement of the stem which is held against rotarymovement by a guide arm 44 non-rotatably secured to the stem andextending through an opening 46 in the yoke 42.

A crossarm assembly 50 is keyed to the yoke bushing 36 above the bearing40 and is provided with radially extending abutments 52 interposed inthe path of lugs 56 formed on a handwheel assembly es rotatably mountedby bearings 61' on an adapter 62 keyed to the upper portion of the yokebushing 36. A cap assembly comprising a ring 65 threaded onto the upperend ofthe bushing 36, a tubular extension 68 and a top cover member 69is provided to close the upper end of the bore in the'yoke bushing 36.

After the abutments 52 are contacted by the lugs 56, a steady pull onthe handwheel will cause the handwheel, the crossarm assembly and theyoke bushing to rotate together to move the stem axially to thereby movethe valve toward open or closed position depending upon thedirection ofrotation of the handwheel. The relatively high torque necessary to seator unseat the valve may be obtained by backing the handwheel off androtating it rapidly through a portion of a revolution so that the lugs56 strike the abutments 52 with a heavy impact. Usually a number of suchimpact-blows are necessary to accomplish the desired result.

While the structure thus far described, which is essentially the same inoperation as that shown in the afore said United States Patent2,665,874, may be used to operate the valve through its full travel thismanual operation is laborious and time-consuming and since the processmay take over an hour it is ineifective under emergency conditions.

In accordance with the'present invention an auxiliary drive mechanismiscombined with the prior structure in a novel manner to operate thevalve over the major portion of its travel.

The auxiliary drive'mechanism includes a ring gear 70' attached by bolts72 to the under side of the handweel. The ring gear 70 meshes with apinion 74 secured b'y a pin 76 to the upper end of a shaft 78 rotatablymounted in bushings 8t and 82-provided in the" upper and lower arms 84and 86, respectively, of the mounting bracket assembly indicatedgenerally at 88. The upper and lower bracket arms 84 and 86- areintegrally joined at one sideby a vertical arm 90and at the oppositeside by a vertical arm 92 the latter including a mounting boss 94 inwhich a shaft 96- is rotatably supported on bushings 98. Projectinglaterally from the central portion of the upper arm 84 is a mountingbracket 100 terminating at itsfree end in an arcuate surface welded asat 102 to the yoke 42. The lower arm 86 is provided with a pair ofspaced laterally projecting arms 104 and 106 each terminating at theirinner ends in arcuate surfaces welded asat 108 to the yoke 42.

Non-rotatably secured to the'shaft 78' by a pin 1.10 above a thrustwasher 112 is a gear 114 which meshes with a pinion 116 secured by'a pin118 to the inner end of shaft 96. A thrust washer 120 is providedbetween theadjacent surfaces of the arm 92 and the pinion 116. The outerend of the shaft 96 is provided with a suitable squared, splined orsimilar formation for receiving an auxiliary drive motor 122. It will benoted that the axis of the drive shaft 96 is tangential of the yoke 42to re du'ce-the overall size ofthe mechanism and to assure that allparts of'the auxiliary drive mechanism will be If -de'- sired the geartrain may be partially enclosed by a protective sheet metal cover plate123. Alternately the entire gear train may be enclosed in a conventionalcast housing.

In a typical case the apparatus provides a total gear ratio of 17.5 :1which is considerably higher than the ratio conveniently obtainable witha single pair of gears. This is achieved through the use of a pinion 116having a pitch diameter of three inches, a gear 114- having a pitchdiameter of 7.5 inches, a pinion 74 having a pitch diameter of 3 inchesand a ring gear 70 having a pitch diameter of 21 inches.

Several types of relatively small reversible motors or motor drive unitsmay be: employed to drive-the shaft 96. In accordance with the presentinvention, a relative ly small motor, for example, horsepower, isemployed for this purpose. If desired, a standard portable air powereddrillrnay be used. In all casesthe driver will be relatively small sinceit isnot intended-to be used to fully seat or unseat the: valve closure.These latter operations are effected by operation of the impactdeveloping handwheel in the normal manner. In practice, the auxiliarydrive will bowed to eifect approximately to 99% of the movement of thevalve stem, the remainder to be produced by operation of the impactinghandwheel.

In a typical case, assuming the valve to be fully opened, the portabledriver is connected to the shaft 96 and rotated in the proper directionto produce closing movement of the valve. In most cases, the closingmove ment will be continued until the closure member contacts the seatat which time the resistance to stem travel will exceed the torqueapplied by the portable driver and will cause the latter to stall. Finalseating of the valve may then be effected by operation of the handwheel.If the valve is fully seated, it will be initially started toward theopen position by suitable operation of the handwheel. As soon as theclosure member is free of the seat, the torque developed by the portabledriver will be sufhcient to move the valve to any desired open position.By the utilization of the novel apparatus of the present invention thetime and effort necessary to operate the valve under any condition willbe substantially reduced at a much lower cost than that attendant withprior motor operated valves.

This app'ication' is a division of copending application serial No.651,732 filed April-9, 1957, and now Patent No. 2,942,495 grantedJune28, 1960 for Valve Operating Mechanism.

The invention may'be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the' spirit or essential characteristics thereof; The" presentembodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrativeand not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by theappended claims rather than by the foregoing description, andallchang'eswhioh come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States LettersPatentis:

1. In a valve having" a threaded stem element axially movable byrelative rotation of said stem element and a mating threaded elementmounted on the valve, drive means forefiecting said relative rotationcomprising, a drive assembly drivingly connected to one of said elementsand having radial abutments; a handwheel mountedfor free rotation aboutthe axis of said stem and having surfaces adapted to engage saidabutments after limited rotation of said handwheel; a ring gear rigidwith said handwheel; a bracket assembly rigid with said valve beneathsaid'handwheel and projecting radially out-' wardly from said valve; afirst shaft mounted for rotation in said bracket assembly about'an axisparallel to the axis of said stem, said shaft projecting, upwardly fromsaid-bracket assembly," apinion rion-rotatably secured to the projectingupper end of said shaft and meshing with said ring gear; a bevel gearnon-rotatably secured to said shaft adjacent the lower end thereof; asecond shaft mounted in said bracket assembly for rotation about an axisnormal to the axis of said first shaft; one end of said second shaftprojecting outwardly of said bracket assembly, a bevel gear on the otherend of said second shaft meshing with said bevel gear on said firstshaft, and means on the projecting end of said second shaft adapted tobe drivingly connected to a portable motor whereby operation of saidmotor will rotate said drive means and move said stem axially.

2. In a valve having a threaded stem element axially movable by relativerotation of said stem element and a mating threaded element mounted onthe valve, drive means for effecting said relative rotation comprising,a drive assembly drivingly connected to one of said elements and havingradial abutments; a handwheel as sembly mounted for free rotation aboutthe axis of said stem and having surfaces adapted to engage saidabutments after limited rotation of said handwheel assembly; a ring gearrigid with one of said assemblies; a bracket assembly rigid with saidvalve beneath said handwheel assembly and projecting outwardly from saidvalve; a first shaft mounted for rotation in said bracket assembly aboutan axis parallel to the axis of said stern, said shaft projectingupwardly of said bracket assembly, a pinion non-rotatably secured to theprojecting upper end of said shaft and meshing with said ring gear; agear non-rotatably secured to said shaft adjacent the lower end thereof;a second shaft rotatably mounted in said bracket assembly; one end ofsaid second shaft projecting from said bracket assembly, a gear on theother end of said second shaft meshing with said gear on said firstshaft, and means on the projecting end of said second shaft adapted tobe drivingly connected to a portable motor whereby operation of saidmotor will move said stem axially.

3. In a valve having a threaded stem element axially movable by relativerotation of said stem element and a mating threaded element mounted onthe valve, drive means for effecting said relative rotation comprising,a drive assembly drivingly connected to one of said ele-= ments andhaving radial abutments; a handwheel mounted for free rotation about theaxis of said stem and having surfaces adapted to engage said abutmentsafter limited rotation of said handwheel; a ring gear rigid with saidhandwheel; a bracket assembly secured to said valve beneath saidhandwheel and projecting radially outwardly from said valve; a firstshaft mounted in upper and lower bearings in said bracket assembly forrotation about an axis parallel to the axis of said stem, said shaftprojecting upwardly of said bracket assembly, a pinion non-rotatablysecured to the projecting upper end of said shaft and meshing with saidring gear; a bevel gear nonrotatably secured to said shaft between saidbearings; a second shaft mounted in said bracket assembly for rotationabout an axis normal to the axis of said first shaft and tangentially ofthe axis of said stem; one end of said second shaft projecting outwardlyof said bracket assembly, a bevel gear on the other end of said secondshaft meshing with said bevel gear on said first shaft and means on theprojecting end of said second shaft adapted to be drivingly connected toa portable motor whereby operation of said motor will move said stemaxially.

4. An operator for a valve having a stern threaded into a bushingrotatably mounted in a yoke and fixed against axial movement thereinwhereby rotation of said bushing moves said stem axially, comprising: adrive assembly rotatable with said bushing and having radial abutments;a handwheel mounted for free rotation about the axis of said stem andhaving surfaces adapted to engage said abutments after limited rotationof said hand wheel; a ring gear rigid with said handwheel; a bracketassembly secured to said yoke beneath said handwheel and projectingradially outwardly from said yoke; a first shaft mounted for rotation insaid bracket assembly about an axis parallel to the axis of said stem,said shaft projecting upwardly of said bracket assembly, a pinionnon-rotatably secured to the projecting upper end of said shaft andmeshing with said ring gear; a bevel gear nonrotatably secured to saidshaft adjacent the lower end thereof; a second shaft mounted in saidbracket assembly for rotation about an axis normal to the axis of saidfirst shaft; one end of said second shaft projecting outwardly of saidbracket assembly, a bevel gear on the other end of said second shaftmeshing with said bevel gear on said first shaft, and means on theprojecting end of said second shaft adapted to be drivingly connected toa portable motor whereby operation of said motor will rotate said sternbushing and move said stem axially.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,731,314 Mohr Oct. 15, 1929 1,943,854 Beckwith Jan. 16, 1934 2,709,062Lamb May 24, 1955 2,845,814 Milleville Aug. 5, 1958 2,855,940 Millevilleet a1. Oct. 14, 1958

